In the past, semiconductor manufacturers have used a combination of silicon semiconductor materials and III-N semiconductor materials to manufacture cascoded devices, such as a normally-on III-N depletion mode HEMT cascoded with a silicon device. Using this combination of materials helps achieve a normally-off state using a III-N depletion mode device that is normally-on. In cascoded devices configured as switches, the silicon device often operates in avalanche mode due to high leakage currents of the III-N device that is operating under a high drain bias. In the avalanche operating mode, the gate of the III-N device is under a large stress in which the absolute gate to source voltage exceeds the devices pinch-off voltage. Hard stress conditions such as operating the silicon device in the avalanche mode degrades device reliability, lowers the breakdown voltage, and increases leakage currents. Cascoded semiconductor devices have been described in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2013/0088280 A1 by Rakesh K. Lal et al. and published on Apr. 11, 2013.
After manufacturing cascoded devices from different semiconductor substrate materials, semiconductor component manufacturers typically protect the silicon device and the depletion mode devices in separate packages and connect the devices in the separate packages together via leadframe leads to form a cascoded device. A drawback with this approach is that increasing the number of packages increases the cost of a cascoded semiconductor component and degrades the performance of the cascoded devices because of increased parasitics such as parasitic capacitance and parasitic inductance.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a cascoded semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the cascoded semiconductor device. It would be of further advantage for the structure and method to be cost efficient to implement.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference characters in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current flow through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain n-channel or p-channel devices, or certain n-type or p-type doped regions, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the words during, while, and when as used herein are not exact terms that mean an action takes place instantly upon an initiating action but that there may be some small but reasonable delay, such as a propagation delay, between the reaction that is initiated by the initial action and the initial action. The use of the words approximately, about, or substantially means that a value of an element has a parameter that is expected to be very close to a stated value or position. However, as is well known in the art there are always minor variances that prevent the values or positions from being exactly as stated. It is well established in the art that variances of up to about ten per cent (10%) (and up to twenty per cent (20%) for semiconductor doping concentrations) are regarded as reasonable variances from the ideal goal of being exactly as described.